One Size does not fit all

I will confess that I used to love Jane magazine and was very sad when it went out of print. (I sadly missed out on the whole Sassy thing, probably because when I was in junior high, I wasn’t cool enough for anyone to tell me it existed.) But I loved Jane. I know that […]

Wilhelmina Anne was born at 11:43 pm on May 17th. (She was born via C-section, 50 hours after my water broke in the parking lot of a movie theater after seeing Bridesmaids.) (Which totally reminds me to write about Melissa McCarthy’s character in Bridesmaids.) She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 20.87 inches long. […]

Part of my “homework” for the childbirth class we just started is to talk to people who have “had the birth experience” that I want. Of course, I have no idea. But I was hoping you would share your thoughts and birth stories with me! I have friends who have had home births and hypnobirths […]

I’ve really been wanting to post something non-pregnancy related, and go through the links in my inbox, but it’s still a little chaotic around here! I’m freelancing part time, teaching full time, and moving into our new house. So a lot is going on, and I thank you for your patience while I get things […]

At the urging of various relatives and friends, I’m trying to put together a baby registry for Wigburg. You wouldn’t think that this would really be a fatty thing, but it turns out that for a few items, it is! So I figured: where better to ask about this stuff than BFD, right? First question: […]

Hi everyone out there in BFD land! I certainly have missed you. And how has everyone been? Do we have stuff to catch up on or what? I guess I should first explain why I went away so abruptly and without explanation. Well, it’s Wigburg’s fault. Wigburg, who is currently, even as I type this, […]

Apparently I’m on a movie kick, but I couldn’t resist sharing this great article in Newsweek exploring the subtle sexism in recent kid movies. …One in four female characters was depicted in “sexy, tight, or alluring attire,” compared with one in 25 male characters. The female characters were also more likely than men to be […]

Oh, the postcards. The postcards with awful puns and “jokes” on them that feature very large models and often show them in the process of eating something. We’ve all seen them, right? I saw this one last month, while I was on vacation in Ohio, and I was like, “oh god, these. I remember these.” […]

1. Photographic proof that fat people existed in the past, from Manolo for the Big Girl. Some really cool pictures. 2. Lesley at Fatshionista is doing Huge recaps, and tackles the latest episode here. Also, the cast signs a Body Peace Treaty, but… there are some problems, as The Rotund explains: “Oh, hi, y’all, love […]

We recently talked about how relatively minor incidents can sometimes feel much more significant than they really are. There are a lot of thought-provoking stories in the comments and I urge you to check out the comments thread if you haven’t had a chance lately. I was reminded of that conversation today when I was […]

This seems to be the week for celebrity women to advocate for body positivity—or at least, it’s the week I found all these links! First off, from Becky on Twitter comes this story about Penelope Cruz, who says you don’t have to be thin to be pretty. “I would close down all those teenage magazines […]

Or, why “just take in fewer calories than you burn” is not quite that simple. Katsyuri sent in this Newsweek article, discussing how intestinal bacteria may affect the number of calories the body is able to absorb. More efficient bacteria = more calories absorbed = more “calories in” than average. The calories that count are […]

Thanks to Ian (who I’ve been begging to take me to the Harry Potter theme park) and @GinandPopcorn for alerting me to this story: some guests are being turned away from the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride for being unable to fit in the seats. Universal seems to have anticipated this issue, stationing […]

On Heavy Girls and Sexy Times, by Silvana, at Tiger Beatdown. 2. Here is what you learn very early, as a young woman prone to fatness, even before puberty: My body is bad. My body is disgusting. My body is something for me to fight against. My body will not cooperate with my desire to […]

1. It doesn’t “make economic sense” to make clothes in many different styles for fat people. So, if fat people just stuck to wearing muumuus, that would be great, then? I would ask why are thin women allowed to want different kinds of clothing and fat women are not? I’m pretty sure all of the […]

You have to admire the creativity of PR people sometimes, desperately trying to shoehorn their products into stories about whatever might be making headlines, and then blindly sending those stories to bloggers whose blogs may or may not be at all related to the products they’re trying to sell. Here are some ridiculous pitches I’ve […]

1. The new Oprah biography contains a shocking allegation about pecan pie (and, perhaps, an opportunity to become educated about food addiction). From Michelle Coppola: Oprah once ordered two pecan pies from room service and *shudder* ATE THEM BOTH!! And what, Kitty Kelley? The earth tilted on its axis from Oprah’s subsequent weight gain? As […]

Raymond de Felitta, writer/director of the film City Island, discusses his film’s attention-getting subplot in this article in Salon. A subplot involves the Rizzo family’s youngest son (the brilliant Ezra Miller) who is secretly ashamed of his adolescent yearning for the woman next door, an Internet “goddess” named Denise who is 400 pounds and a […]

I teach a composition class, and one of the textbook exercises this week was quite illuminating! The students read a section on denotative and connotative meanings, and had to rewrite a few sentences “with words that arouse more positive feelings.” The words that the students were supposed to change were underlined. For example, they might […]

I heard this story on the radio this morning: one California supervisor wants to ban fast food restaurants from selling toys with fast food meals. Of course, this is only one county in one state, so we’re hardly at the level of an argument before the Supreme Court. A child’s “Happy Meal” may soon be […]

I just want to shake Carnie Wilson when I read articles like this. She had weight loss surgery a while back and since then has regained some of the weight she lost. And she’s still flagellating herself for it. The Wilson Phillips singer, who currently weighs 212 lbs. despite undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 1999, […]

This article from the L.A. Times runs down some recent examples of fatism, such as the save-the-whales PETA ad, the mandatory “fat class” graduation requirement, and the proposed bill outlawing restaurant dining by obese people in Mississippi. The pattern, the Times posits, is that slim people are “fed up” with the obese. Some choice quotes, […]

Originally uploaded by _saturnine Ah, the 1-800-GET-THIN billboards. Although I’m sure they’re all over the place, I seem to only see them all over Los Angeles. I can’t help but imagine a sinister undercurrent. Dear Aspiring Actress Who Just Moved To Hollywood… Have lap band surgery, which is a total breeze, obviously, and be transformed […]

I’ve been alternately sick, or busy, or sick and busy. In the meantime, here are some things that have been going on lately… In Case You Missed Them! Even though you most likely didn’t. 1. Shapely Prose leaves the Fatosphere! As we’ve tried saying a gazillion times, [Shapely Prose] is not the movement. It is […]

No, no, no, not me! But I received an email from my friend Jennifer, who is 36 weeks pregnant, and she graciously said I could reprint her words here. I found her thoughts about pregnancy as a plus-sized woman really fascinating, and I hope you will, too! She covers topics including maternity wear, the ups […]